(IMDB)
(IMDB)

What may be new on TV this fall you’ve already seen. Sort of. It’s deja vu all over again in TV land. Just this week, NBC announced that it had greenlit a 13-episode order of Coach, a new sitcom based on the old one but still starring Craig T. Nelson. The original show ran on ABC from 1989 to 1997 and also starred Jerry Van Dyke, Shelly Fabares,Bill Fagerbakke and Clare Carey. Although, no other cast members have been announced as of yet, the new show will pick up 18 years later with Coach Hayden Fox now serving as an assistant coach for his grandson. Original show creator, Barry Kemp, will also write for the new series.

(Titan Magazine)
(Titan Magazine)

Re-boots of favorite TV shows are nothing new of course, but rarely do they do well. Ironside, The Bionic Woman, Night Rider, The Munsters and even the current The Odd Couple with Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon have failed to connect with viewers while the new version of Hawaii Five-O has done quite well.

(Epic Buzz)
(Epic Buzz)

However, the renewed series of Coach is part of an ongoing trend that is having some relative success. TV isn’t just wanting to put a new spin on an old series. It wants to bring back the old series with its original stars. TNT brought back Dallas (which ended in 1991) with original cast members and an extended family in 2012, Fox brought back Kieffer Sutherland as Jack Bauer in 24: Live Another Day last year, Arrested Development with its entire cast, came back for a season on Netflix and Disney Channel’s revival of ABC’s Boy Meets World, now dubbed, Girl Meets World, is shooting its second season.

TV4
(TV Shows on DVD)

In addition to Coach, be on the look out for three other fan favorites making a return. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson will return for new episodes of The X-Files, Kyle MacLachlan is set to return to Twin Peaks for a short visit for Showtime and NBC’s Heroes will come back as Heroes Reborn with at least Jack Coleman and Masi Oka returning as well.

However, even this new trend isn’t really new. The original cast of Leave it Beaver (1957–1963) returned for Still the Beaver (1983–1989). The Brady Bunch (1969–1974) came back as The Brady Bunch Variety Hour (1976), The Brady Girls Get Married (1981) and The Bradys (1990). Finally, who can forget the three Gilligan’s Island reunion movies? Yup, what’s old is new again…and again.

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